INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines dropped its first match but scored back-to-back victories over favored foes Saturday in the World Junior Badminton Championships team event at the Stadium Sulatan Abdul Halim in Alor, Setar Kedah, Malaysia.

The Filipino shuttlers, one of the tournament’s youngest teams, bounced back from a close 3-2 defeat to fourth-seed India with a 4-1 rout of Canada in Group Y.

They returned in the afternoon to hand heavy favorite England a 3-1 drubbing to top their group.

The Filipinos were playing the Singaporean in a crossover tie late Sunday.

The Philippines, which hopes to qualify to the Youth Olympics next year in Singapore, is out to improve on its 22nd-place finish last year. With the victories, ninth place is within reach.

“Our players played well and we gained a bit of respect from the strong teams,” head coach Allan de Leon said. “We almost beat the No. 4 seed but we fell short. We will do our best so that we can have better a ranking.”

The Filipinos started slow against the Britons with the mixed doubles pair of Peter Gabriel Magnaye and Malvinne Ann Venice Alcala losing to Mark Middletown and Alyssa Lim, 26-24, 13-21, 21-14.

But Philip Joper Escueta outplayed England’s top player, Toby Penty, 21-17, 21-17, in the boy’s singles and Gelita Castillo scored the second point for RP when she edged England’s Sarah Milne, 17-21, 21-11, 21-13.

The winning point came from the boys’ doubles pair of Magnaye and Paul Jefferson Vivas who downed England’s Chris Coles and Matthew Nottingham, 17-21, 21-16, 21-15.

Scoring for the Filipinos in their duel with the Canadians were Vivas and Castillo in the mixed douobles, Escueta in the boys’ singles, Vivas and Magnaye in the boys’ doubles and Castillo and Alcala in the girls’ doubles.

Vivas-Castillo crushed Timothy Lam and Suharbu Kadam, 23-21, 21-14, Escueta bested Nathan Lee, 23-21, 22-20, Vivas-Magnaye thumped Joseph Donaldson and Allen Chee, 21-16, 21-11, and Castillo-Alcala outlasted Katelin Dejak and Michelle Li, 21-19, 21-16.

Last Friday, Magnaye and Castillo opened with a 15-21, 21-16, 21-11 triumph over India’s Pranav Chopra and Sawant Prajakta in the mixed doubles.

But RP’s top girl Alcala bowed to Sikki Reddy, 21-8, 21-17, and Escueta lost in three sets to H.S. Pranoy, 9-21, 21-16, 21-11, in the singles.

Castillo and Alcala scored in the girls’ doubles with a 15-21, 21-14, 21-14 victory over Reddy and P.C. Thulasi to level the count, but Magnaye and Vivas succumbed to Chopra and Praneet Sai, 20-22, 21-18, 21-17 in the boys’ doubles. Marc Anthony Reyes